Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Reader Top Ten Greatest Science Fiction Films, Circa 2000 - 2013: Bruce Nims


My dear friend and regular reader Bruce Nims kicks off our Reader Top Ten this beautiful Wednesday morning.
He writes: “Here is my humble list and in no particular order:
1.   District 9 (What more needs to be said about this movie?)

2.  Inception - Smart script from a smart director.  Sure it has its issues, but it definitely made you think.

3.  Primer - I can only echo your awesome points about this underrated and under-appreciated gem.

4.  Timecrimes - Maybe the best time travel movie ever made.

5.  Chronicles of Riddick - Admittedly probably nothing more than a guilty pleasure of mine, but I love love love this movie.  There is just something about it that just works for me.

6.  Avalon - Sure it has, shall we say, a deliberate pace but I think this is an amazing movie and the Wizard of Oz call back at the end is genius.  An alternative take on the "virtual world" genre.

7.  Cowboy Bebop:  The Movie - Cowboy Bebop has always been an amazing show with deep Sci Fi elements hidden behind larger than life characters, amazing plots, and amazing music.  Firefly owes its complete existence to this movie.

8.  Serenity - Speaking of Firefly, Serenity is just about perfect as a movie can be in a Sci-Fi setting.

9.  Children of Men - John, I'm shocked, shocked I tell you that this movie didn't make your list.  I guess I will never understand your love of Prometheus.  (I'll gladly stand with the "dunderheads" on this one!  LOL.)

10.  Dredd - I'll direct everyone to your review on this movie.  Another under-appreciated classic.
Honorable Mentions:
Looper
Donnie Darko
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (come on, its a fun movie!)
Sunshine (at least until the unexplainable hijacking of the movie in the third act by a slasher movie)
Super 8
Chronicle (a very compelling examination of what would really happen if someone got superpowers).
Tron:  Legacy
Pitch Black"

Bruce: I’m sort of shocked that I forgot Children of Men too!  The more reader lists I read, the more I realize that I missed several films that I adore, from Pitch Black and Dredd to Children of Men.  In a way, I hope my frequent forgetfulness says something positive about the era (rather than merely something negative about my memory…): there are many more good films out there in this time period than are generally considered/remembered.

I also love that you included Chronicle on your runner’s up tally.  I just saw that film for the first time recently and really loved it.  I think the movie represents one of the most creative and effective uses of the found-footage genre. And by the way, I also have a soft spot for The Chronicles of Riddick!


Readers: don’t forget to send me your list at Muirbusiness@yahoo.com

3 comments:

  1. On "Inception" to paraphrase your quote... "Inception" owes it's entire existence to "Paprika". ;) While I think "Inception" is Nolan's best film, and a solid execution of an action flick. I still think he put too many rules on his premise and really didn't do enough with the concept of entering other people's dreams. Satoshi Kon's colorful and yes, completely bonkers dreamscapes in "Paprika" do quite a bit more with the idea and the way he creates an uncanny dread in some scenes works much better than Nolan's very fixed and organized approach. My 2 cents anyway. :)

    You know, I enjoy "Cowboy Bebop" as much as the next anime fan. But I don't see all the "deep sci-fi elements" in it. Most of what it tackles in the sci-fi realm are really only done at a surface level. That is my primary issue with the show. It's all surface and not much else. Lots of fun, great animation and wonderful music. But in the end, it just lacks that special something for me.

    Just to show I'm not picking on you, I agree with you on "Avalon". Oshi has a very particular style, but once you get into it, his work is very rewarding. I'm going to have a tough time picking between this and "Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence".

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  2. Bruce:
    Great to see some love for Avalon. The mixed reviews have always left me on the fence about seeing this film and I will add this to the queue and get it done.

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  3. I considered Bebop for my own list, but to me the series is just so much stronger than 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door'. I'd argue that the series is one of the top 10 sci-fi shows 2000-2013, but I couldn't make the same argument for the movie. I humbly disagree with Roman too - I feel that Bebop had a lot going on throughout its run. There's a lot of ambiguity, layered meaning and metaphorical foreshadowing throughout, although it's true that the issues being explored (namely that you can't bury the past indefinitely, 'Don't leave things in the fridge.') aren't explicitly sci-fi in nature.

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